Are antidepressants overprescribed? Yes

Antidepressant prescriptions in the UK jumped by 9.6% in 2011, to 46 million prescriptions.1 As a generalist prescribing antidepressants daily in primary care, I think that we use antidepressants too easily, for too long, and that they are effective for few people (if at all). But even questioning current care is considered “stigmatising” towards mental illness and “populist” anti-medicine rhetoric.2 The arguments put forward for using antidepressants are simple: depression is an important, often stigmatised, illness, for which antidepressants work; prescribing is supported by national guidelines; and long term treatment prevents relapse.2 3 But, regrettably, the argument is not that simple, and psychiatry’s defensiveness is stifling legitimate discussion.